Little Miss Perfect
by deathblade8
Summary: A glance into the future of Jake Peralta,amazing detective-slash-genius


When Amy had told Jake about her pregnancy, the latter was over the moon. Sure, he was nervous as hell and he had a good reason to be. His own father did not exactly set an ideal role model for him. Nevertheless, Jake was determined to never let that come in the way of him becoming the best father his child could have.

Just like that, Jake Peralta grew up.

Over the next few months, Jake shadowed Amy wherever she went, drawing the line (against his better wishes) only when she had to go to the bathroom. His constant presence didn't help Amy's hormones which were on a roller coaster ride. But no matter how much she protested, Jake relentlessly followed her, forcing on her his presence on her day in and day out. Amy had already placed in a request for a desk job, which Holt had readily approved. But somehow, Jake had ensured that she got as little paperwork as possible. Even the cases she received were surprisingly soft, the most blood curdling of them being the theft of an eighty-year old lady's purse which had almost five dollars in cash. Apparently, violent cases had a severe impact on one's blood pressure which was not ideal for the child.

He read out excerpts from the pregnancy books aloud to everyone in the precinct, so that they knew what to do if Amy was in labor and he wasn't around( Of course, that was to happen only if the earth was under alien attack and he was the world's last hope).

Terry suggested him to tone down his paranoia. It fell on deaf ears.

Months passed by. As the due date came closer, his nerves got progressively worse. He took on fewer cases so that he could go home to Amy on time. Amy found it nonsensical. Jake didn't.

He had just made an arrest on his drug case when he received Gina's call. " Jake, get your ass to the hospital right now. The baby is coming. I repeat the baby is coming!"

Jake put on the fake siren and broke all speed regulations to reach St. Victoria's in less than 10 minutes.

His entire squad was waiting for him at the twelfth floor, armed with stuffed toys and balloons. Rosa was at Amy's side, stroking her hair and comforting her through her labor pains, which were growing worse by the second. No one had seen Rosa Diaz as affectionate as she was now. As Jake entered the room, she got up from her chair. Giving him a friendly punch, she walked out to join her team in the hallway.

"We are about to begin" said Dr. Geller "Are you ready?"

" I have been ready for the past nine months, doctor" Jake says, holding his wife's hand.

An hour later, Carmen Rosalyn Peralta entered the world, weighing in at seven pounds and thirty two ounces.

After meeting Amy, Jake had felt that he could never love another woman as much as he loved her. Today, that little miracle sleeping in his arms had proved him wrong.

* * *

Three years later

It took one phone call to bring his world crashing down.

He was on his way to pick Carmen from playschool when his phone rang.

His mind went numb and it took him a minute to process what Donna Spencer, Amy's assistant at the seven-six had just told him.

"Amy was led into an ambush, Jake. She and her team raided the warehouse and Mancini's guys were waiting for them. They were outnumbered in the firefight. Mancini probably had a mole inside the department. I am so sorry Jake, she didn't make it" Donna broke down.

Jake rushed to the hospital, having called Charles to take Carmen home. St. Victoria's was flooded with the NYPD. One of the officers recognized Jake and took him to his wife.

"Open your eyes, Detective Terrible Detective. The man of your dreams is here to sweep you away" Jake choked as he held his partner for the very last time.

Amy Santiago lay in the morgue, cold and pale. Unresponsive to her husband's pleadings.

* * *

The church was packed to its capacity on the day of the funeral. They had to keep the church doors open so that the mourners who had failed to get a seat could hear everything from the outside. Amy had touched so many lives.

Jake sat in the front seat with his old squad members. He had asked Holt to deliver the final address. Protecting Carmen while keeping himself together had taken up every ounce of his strength. He knew he would have broken down in front of the crowd.

Holt was Amy's rabbi. It was only fit that he send her away.

"Amy Santiago was-" Holt pauses to wipe the tears streaming down his eyes.

"-One of a kind."

As Holt goes on to complete his speech, there is not a dry eye left in the room.

* * *

Jake drowns himself completely in his work, to keep Amy out of his mind. This does not help when he reaches home though, because Carmen is a spitting image of her mother. She has the same over-competitive streak, the same over-enthusiastic attitude. Just like Amy, she is also a giant nerd. At the age of seven, she is already wearing glasses. Her Aunt Gina warns her no guy will go for a dork who is always buried in books. Jake hopes so.

He is extremely protective of his daughter. He has a tracker installed in her tiny pendant, which she wears at all times. He has placed nanny-cams all over his house. He had conducted a background check on every single one of their neighbors before they moved to their new house in the suburbs. There was no way he was going to raise Carmen in the city. He gives her self-defence classes every night of the week.

Still, despite all of this, he still gets nightmares about something bad happening to his little girl, and Amy isn't there to calm him down when he does.

He dreads the day when Carmen would grow up and move out. He now totally believes that putting Rapunzel up in the tower and locking her up was the most practical thing to do.

But Carmen is not the kind of girl who needs to be shielded from the world. She has her mother's fire, a quality which terrifies him and fills him with pride, at the same time.

She drags him out from his loneliness, gets him to live once again. She grows up idolizing John McClane and binge watches Die Hard with her father. She becomes his best friend.

Jake basks in the glory of her achievements. Cheers her with equal enthusiasm in the Debate Championship as well as the Soccer Tournament. He scrapbooks and documents her every milestone, wishing at every step that Amy could be alive to see this.

Years pass and Carmen graduates from Law School. When they go out for drinks she tells him about her decision. He does not respond. He simply kisses her on her forehead and walks out of the pub.

* * *

Carmen is waiting along with her colleagues from the Police Academy. The graduation ceremony is about to start. She wonders if her own father would be present. He hasn't contacted her in a long time. So she couldn't be sure. She does see Uncle Holt and Kevin, along with Uncle Charles,Uncle Terry, Aunt Gina and Aunt Rosa. It's hard to miss them-they are the loudest family in the audience.

Just as they are about to walk into the ground, she sees him. He looks really handsome in his Captain's uniform.

"You didn't honestly think I was gonna miss this, did you? " he says, pulling her into a hug. "I am so proud of you, Baby Girl. And I know your Mom would be too. If you are half as good as she ever was, you'll be all right."

"Come on, Peralta" her training officer calls out.

Jake hugs his daughter again and says "Go get them, Partner"

"Love you, dad" She says and goes on to join her fellow officers-to-be.

Later that evening, Jake visits Amy. He places flowers on her grave and kisses the headstone. Pulling up a chair, he cracks his stupid jokes, like he has been doing for the past twenty-one years. He narrates Carmen's entire graduation ceremony to her.

As the sky gets darker, he gets up

"We did all right, Ames" he says before walking off into the sunset


End file.
